Venezuela has one of the highest murder rates in the world, and illegal firearms are prevalent. More than 130,000 illegal arms were turned into the state last year as part of a pilot disarmament program.

By Gimena Sánchez, WOLA, reposted @ Latin American Monitor, August 27, 2012

As in many countries in the Western Hemisphere, a vigorous debate is going on in Venezuela about how to control the possession and use of illegal weapons.  Amid a climate of extreme ideological polarization and varied political agendas, perceptions and misinformation have shaped much of the opinion surrounding the arms debate in Venezuela. Even the number of guns has become a point of contention; opponents to the Chavez government claim that there exist 15 million illegal arms in a country with a total population of 28 million, while government supporters call such claims exaggerations designed to discredit the president and undercut his credibility on the eve of the October Presidential elections. Ideology aside, and whatever the numbers, the sobering fact remains that in 2010, 94 percent of homicides were committed with firearms—36 percent of the victims were youths between the ages of 15 and 28, and the majority were males from the lower economic sectors. Regardless of political preference, it is clear that illegal firearms are killing Venezuelans  [....]